Dear Weekly Contest,
by Sofipitch
Summary: My smaller entries for lj's FMA Fic Contest. Cannon pairings, no real controversial themes.
1. Next One

Title: Next One

Author: Sofipitch

Series: manga/brotherhood

Word Count: 378

Rating: _PG-13?_

Characters: Lust, Envy, Edward

Summary: And a smile threatened to break her face at the thought.

Warnings: spoilers if you haven't gotten to lab five

Subject: Prompt 170, abuse, "Next One"

She thought his smile looked so wide, it was threatening to rip his face in two.

"_But that wouldn't matter," _ she thought, _"he would just regenerate again."_

She vaguely wondered if she should step in, interfere. _"The boy can take just a little more,"_ she said to herself as she brushed off the idea of interfering. It wasn't her fight. Well, it could've been, but the little parasite had decided to take over.

Not that she minded. It was so much easier to sit back and watch Envy beat up the child. That way, if anything went wrong it wouldn't be her fault. She enjoyed watching the way the boy's blood looked in contrast to his golden hair from a distance.

Envy grabs the boy's braid and holds him in place as he knees him in the gut. A small trickle of blood makes its way out of the boy's open mouth. His golden eyes widen, and so does Envy's smile. The sight of the boy's blood was turning Envy on, it seemed to also be having the same effects on her.

"Remember he's a sacrifice. You can't kill him." This time Lust did interfere, unwillingly, but she didn't want Father to be angry at her for not stoping her brother before he kills a sacrifice.

Envy drops the boy. She could see pout on his face, he had wanted to finish him off. She felt sad too; she had been enjoying the show. She had even hoped that she would be able to also have a turn with the child.

She wondered if sinking her nails into the boy's tender bronze flesh would feel as good as it looks. If his eyes would still remain the same color even if she scratched intricate designs in them. She wondered into just how many pieces could the bone in his flesh arm brake before it would become dust.

But she can't lay a single nail on him. Even if she so much as scratched him, the boy would surely die. He had already lost enough blood. Damn Envy.

"_Oh well,"_ she thought, _"I'll get the next one." _

And a smilethreatens to brake her face at the thought. Yes, if the child survives tonight, they shall surely meet again.


	2. Selfish Child

**Title:** Selfish Child

**Author:** Sofipitch

**Series:** Manga/Brotherhood

**Word Count:** exactly 250

**Rating:** G

**Characters:** Edward, Alphonse, mentions of Ling and Hoenhiem

**Summary:** A part of him wished that he could have taken the easy way out.

**Warnings:** MAJOR SPOILERS!

**A/N:** Don't you love how the manga directly states that Edward wouldn't give himself up as opposed to the decision made in the 2003 anime?

Subject: prompt 171, stone, "Selfish Child"

He had had the chance to use a different alternative, to use the lost souls from Ishval and Xerxes to his advantage. He didn't have to give up his alchemy. And for a second he didn't want to. He wanted to be selfish, he wanted to act like the child he was.

But he wasn't a child anymore, or at least mentally. No one had treated him like a child since he joined the military. And even if some had tried to make him realize his true age, they were eventually all be put down to realize that they couldn't treat him that way. That he was to be treated like an adult, even if he was only twelve years old.

Ling, the man who was destined to be future emperor of Xing, offered to give up the only thing that would allow him to become ruler. His father, this own father, had offered his life, his life in exchange for Alphonse's. They all cared for Alphonse _so_ much that they were willing to give all they had. And he should too. He should give Alphonse the rest of what he had.

He wished he could have taken the easy way out, but life wasn't that simple. But when he saw Alphonse smile for the first time, he knew it had all been worth it. And when he saw Alphonse simile, he saw the souls of Ishval and Xerxes smiling with him, thanking Edward for not using them so selfishly.


	3. Satisfaction

**Title:** Satisfaction

**Author:** Sofipitch

**Series:** either

**Word Count:** 493

**Rating:** G

**Characters:**Elric bros, mentions of others

**Summary:** There was no alternative, they had to have her there.

**Warnings:** none

**Subject:** prompt 172, Bare or Bear, "Satisfaction"

The original idea had been to learn alchemy to please his mother. To entertain her with the shapes and figures that reminded her of their father. He had loved that, the innocence of it all. Just a carefree game, a mother and her two sons smiling, imagining father's face when he came home and saw the mess his study had been turned into.

Once their mother died alchemy was no longer a small hobby, it took over their lives. They plunged into alchemy books, sucking in all the information like a towel would water. They needed to learn alchemy, because they needed to bring their mother back. They her needed her with them. They couldn't be left alone, not like Winry had been.

When they met the talented alchemist with the dreadlocks, they knew she had to be the one. The most talented alchemist in Amestris. The one who would teach them the alchemy that they needed to know to bring their mother back. The one who fought bears in the Briggs mountain range. The one who ran a meat shop in Dublith. The one who claimed to just be simple housewife.

Izumi taught them well, but every time they so much as mentioned human transmutation, she would lecture them about how they should not ever engage in the forbidden art. The thing that puzzled him the most was that she never told them why. And maybe if she had, if she had warned them that it would only lead to failure and the loss of their bodies, they may not have done it.

But maybe her warning them wouldn't have mattered. Maybe they still would've done it. Maybe they would've thought that they could do it, and make it work out. Maybe they would've been too vain to think that they couldn't, because at the time it seemed there was no other alternative to living. They had to have her there.

That night, the night of the transmutation incident, they were taken away from everything they had, stripped bare, naked, alone. Or so it seemed. They had family, Winry, Pinako, Den, and they had bodies, although they were a little unusual. They still had enough to live on, even though it was different from most people.

Alphonse Elric had wanted to stop there; he didn't want any more mistakes, but his brother wanted to keep going. He still wanted to find an alternative, a way to live a happier life.

Alphonse followed his brother because he didn't want him to be alone. He kept going because what the world had given them wasn't enough to satisfy his brother.

And a part of him knew he himself wasn't satisfied either.


	4. Boiling Down

Title: Boiling Down

Author: Sofipitch

Series: manga/brotherhood

Word Count: 250

Rating: PG

Characters: Father

Summary: But that old bastard Hoenhiem wasn't supposed to keep fighting.

Warnings: major spoilers

His body shakes, deep labored breaths are taken, and his entire body is lit up in a rose color as the stone pools throughout his body. His stomach churns with the same ferocity as hurricane would across the great Xingese Sea. His torso burns as the blood and stone in his body flow faster than any live human could sustain. He can feel his heart beating at the same pace as a Drachman race horse.

_"Let us out!"_

But he has to sustain it. He can't let that old worthless human get the better of him. He's been working for hundreds of years so that everything could boil down to this moment. But that old bastard Hoenhiem wasn't supposed to keep fighting. He was supposed to be on his knees, crying for all that were lost due to his own uselessness.

_"Let us out!"_

He tries to hold his resolve, to hold all of it in. The energy throughout his body is decreasing as the philosopher's stone fights to leave him. It's his energy against everyone else's, but he should be able to manage; he has the power of god.

_"Let us out!"_

Then he feels it, the pulsing, echoing together, in his head, in his heart, and at the bottom of his stomach. He feels them right at his opening, their energy greater than his own, building, working together to be released.

"_**Let us out!" **_

And then everything he worked for the last hundreds years explodes out of him.


	5. A Million Tales

**Title:** A Million Tales

**Author:** Sofipitch

**Series:** 2003 anime

**Word Count:** 250

**Rating:** G

**Characters:** OC, Winry

**Summary:** Grandma seems to keep a lot of secrets.

**Warnings:** Very vague spoiler for the ending of the first movie.

For as long as you could remember, there had been a tiny photo album situated above that brick fire place. One day, once you were tall enough to reach it, you decided to see just what was hidden inside it. Grandma had always been very secretive about that album, so of course this led you to be _very_ curious.

You stand on the very tips of your toes and your fingers grasp the edge of the book cover. As you're easing the album down carefully, you don't hear Grandma come into the room. She says something to you; you jump and the album falls to the ground. As it tumbles, a single photo slips out and lands right between you and Grandma. Three young children are standing together into the photo, a boy with soft brown hair and round features, a short golden haired boy with a scowl on his face, and a blonde girl with eyes as blue as Grandma's.

Grandma snatches the photo up before you can move and shoves it back into the album. She puts the album back where it belongs and hurries out of the room, informing you that lunch is ready. She never does bring up the photo that is now permanently etched into your brain and neither do you.

They say an image can tell a million tales; you wonder how many of Grandma's secrets can be found in that one picture. And how much those two boys have to do with it.


	6. What She Chose To Do

It was the first time since the death of the little chimera girl that he felt truly sorry for someone to be so involved with alchemy. The little girl hadn't known better, she wouldn't have been able to defend herself if she had anyways, but _she_ on the other hand chose to follow this path.

She could have walked away, returned home. She could have decided she didn't want to be living in this hell on earth anymore and could have left. She didn't know alchemy, she didn't really seem to care for it either. But he watched the way she would stare at the back of the short state alchemist with fear and hope. _"Just promise me you'll stay safe."_ He saw the way she would look at the boy in the suit of armor, with pity and reliance. _"Don't let Ed do anything stupid, okay?"_ And, he somehow got the idea that she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

She breathed in heavy labored breaths, the air a mix of freezing cold snow and warm and moist dirt from the cavern walls. She clenched and unclenched her hands in a spasmodic motion, signifying worry. Every so often she would look around her, over her shoulder, behind her, as if expecting to see the brothers walking alongside her.

She _chose_ to be kidnapped by Scar the murderous Ishvalan. She _chose_ to come to Fort Briggs. She _chose_ to support those brothers. It was a shame, really. She could be living a normal life as a normal Amestrian teenager. But no here she was, traveling through a mine shaft with a group of outlaws on her way to the most powerful and well-guarded fort in all of Amestris in hope of gaining help from what seemed to be, a very scary and dangerous woman general.

He thinks that maybe saying something will help ease her. "Calm down. They'll be fine. Worry about yourself for now." She jerked her head around to face him, whom's presence she hadn't been acknowledging. Her fists clenched and unclenched again and her head jerked up and down.

"That's not the way to comfort someone! It won't comfort her to think of where we are! We are trapped in a mine shaft-" Yoki went on and on rambling about what a horrible situation they were in, very pleasantly reminding everyone once again of how terrible things were at this point and time. Scar simply did what he always did and blocked out the small man's yelling with his own thoughts.

Eventually, once Yoki shut up, Mei started to make conversation with her and she seemed to calm down a bit. Her fears wouldn't ever go away, but at least she had something to keep her occupied while they made their way through the tunnels that had once been used to transport coal to the Briggs Fortress and were now possibly their only chance for survival. Mei had a very comforting presence, her young and innocent nature soothing those around her with optimistic thoughts of the future.

Scar felt he understood the Rockbell's daughter's situation, not wanting to have anything to do with alchemy, but the people you love most end up sucking you into it's deep and dangerous trenches. And he knew she had suffered because of it. Some additional suffering also coming from other forces- such as him- but in the end, it all rotated back to alchemy being the one to blame.

He knew that throughout her life time, she would continue to suffer, her childhood itself being enough to scar some people for life, but he could only wish that it would get better and that the world would treat her fairly.

A/N: This won second place at fma_fic_contest on livejournal.


	7. Warnings

Title: Warnings

Author: Sofipitch

Series: manga/brotherhood

Word Count: 250

Rating: G_ish?_

Characters: Martel

Summary:The military wasn't funding them.

Warnings: none

A/N: Just incase anyone doesn't remember, Martel was injured a bombing incident which led her to the laboratories where she was experimented on. Also, if there is anything that isn't correct in this, please let me know. I'm no military expert but I don't want to use that as an excuse and go around making mistakes.

* * *

They had known of the possibility of bombs ahead of time. In fact, the entire mission had been planned around it. She and the Major General had planned a route to avoid all possible places that might contain bombs. Based on past accidents and discoveries, they were able to map a route that ran right through some slums that were surprisingly close to the fort they planned on subjugating. From past interacting with the Aerugonian military, they knew that Aerugo would _never_ endanger the lives of common citizens on the battlefield front.

Why there would be a base very practically next to the fort was beyond them. Their base didn't have the funding to hire spies and other tools to collect that information because all money was going to help the Ishvalan Civil War and the boarder war with Drachma. Very little money went to help their cause on the Aerugonian battle front. It was much harder to keep tabs on their enemy due to this, but Martel believed this disadvantage would only fortify her troops effort in battle.

"Captain," Martel turned around to face the soldier addressing her. "We are approaching the village. Do we have permission to proceed?"

She nodded. "Permission granted. Continue on," she dismissed him.

They continued on into the village with thoughts of victory and winning the upcoming battle. The words "war hero" echoed in all the young soldiers minds. If only they had known beforehand that the slums they were entering had been evacuated just the day before.


	8. Itch

Title: Itch

Series: manga/brotherhood

Word Count: 421

Rating: PG

Characters: Envy

Summary: The nonexistent injury always itched.

Warnings: none

A/N: This is a **very** strange fic.

It'd only been a month since the last time he had had an itch like this one. Every time Envy managed to get into enough fights or accidents to use up most of his philosopher stone, the last nonexistent injury received would itch, reminding him that he would be crawling on eight legs if he didn't fill up on human souls soon. In Envy's mind, it was as if the itching flesh was taunting him; _don't forget that you're a completely useless idiot, just as Father says. Gluttony attracts less attention than you._

He had managed to get into a fight with some idiots from a town right outside of Central while he was supposed to be scouting the area looking for specimens to make new chimeras with. Gluttony had decided to have a feast, their watch dogs being the main course. The determined poor were always the best for making new chimeras, they had the most fighting spirt in them to sustain the various surgeries and Envy had nothing better to do, so he was assigned the supposedly simple task. The only injury he collected from the small brawl was a fractured forearm. The idiots—whom challenged him in the first, might he say—ended up much worse off them him, considering that they weren't breathing afterwards. He probably shouldn't have killed them, it would bring police to the area to investigate, which he hated-as did Wrath. But from the looks of the area, murders weren't very uncommon there.

Even though he returned triumphant, Envy still chided himself for being reckless enough to be injured. Father wasn't happy about constantly having to refill Envy's stone due to his recklessness. Lust had already teased that he might end up needing double the other homunculi's amount to sustain himself on a daily basis and with the way things were going, her jeers just might prove to be true.

As he scratched his arm Envy could imagine the lecture Father would give him on how reckless, irresponsible, and useless he was. Envy started to scratch his arm harder, nearly tearing at his flesh, in anger, (Whether it was anger towards Father or himself, he couldn't distinguish the difference.) but then stopped in realization that he didn't need to be weaken his stone any more than it was by making himself bleed. He needed to conserve as much stone as possible so maybe he could live for a few more days before explaining to Father why he shouldn't just do away with him.


	9. Compare and Contrast

Title: Compare and Contrast

Author: Sofipitch

Word Count: 924

Warnings: none

Rating: PG

Summary: He was cruel, but he seemed much more panicked when confronting all of them on the promised day. Mustang had yet to see if that theory was true.

A/N: I wrote this, I want to say, a few months ago and had in mind to edit and expand it, but lost my flash drive where it was held and then forgot about it. It was written for fma_fic_contest prompt 176: Arrogance, so I copy and pasted it on to word but copy and pasting it made the word document freak out and act weird. But I finally got it done.

Hawkeye nearly entered the room with him. As he saw her trying to enter he got a sickly feeling in his gut, reminding him of just who they were dealing with and how close he had come to killing her. The scars left from everything that had happened on the promised day had yet to heal, literally and figuratively. His eyes focused on the end of the thin scar that lined her neck and shoulder."I think I'll handle this one alone, Lieutenant."  
She looked confused, but she nodded her head and took a step back either way. He knew she would stand right outside and that the walls were thin enough for her to hear the entire conversation and be able to jump in if things got violent. She felt the need to warn him that she would know if he chose to being threatening the captive or attack him. "I'll be right outside the door if you need me."

He nodded. "I understand," he reassured.

When he entered alone he saw the creature in the jar's eyes narrow. "Your babysitter isn't going to come say hello? How rude." The creature taunted not even missing a beat. The fact that it felt the need to being right away annoyed Roy, but he knew it meant the creature felt unease and that he should be glad it felt intimidated.  
Mustang narrowed his eyes but spoke in a casual fashion, treating the fact the same way the little monster would've. Though he made sure to be firm. "I'm not going to let you try to kill her again."  
Envy scoffed. "I'm in too weak of a form to try and kill her." It seemed to review its words in his head and a twisted smile stretched across the creature's… _face? Body?_ It seemed to be wanting to take chances and risks with him. "It would have been quite the experience to kill her. You see, I've actually never strangled someone to death." The creature let a 'dramatic' pause settle before continuing. "I prefer guns." It was said in a casual tone, but he knew he understood the possible effects of his words.  
Roy's teeth clenched and his eye twitched. The creature was being surprisingly blunt this time, was he getting desperate? Was he scared? Last time he had faced him he had acted the same way, yet Edward had said that he didn't usually talk that. He was cruel, but he seemed much more panicked when confronting all of them on the promised day. Mustang had yet to see if that theory was true.  
"Fullmetal also told me you were the one who started the civil war in Ishval."  
The creature seemed thrown off by the lack of reaction to his previous statement, before deciding to simply go with it.

A patch of green skin just above his eye rose. "And…"  
"Why did you do it?"  
The thing snickered. "Why, the same reason you killed all those people in Ishval. I was ordered to." The creature was so direct in comparing himself to Roy, as if there were no difference. It almost seemed as if he had rehearsed his answer; he must have known he would be confronted for his crime.  
Roy bared his teeth at the creature. "Don't compare yourself to me. You did it willingly. You took enjoyment out of it." He snarled the last part, all he could do was picture Maes' body limp on the floor of the telephone booth. "Give me a real answer."  
The creature seemed to take enjoyment out of Roy's anger at him and his actions. He smiled and completely ignored his last statement. "You willingly joined the military."

"I was looking to help the people of Amestris."  
"And I was looking to help the expansion of my race and my father." Again, he didn't miss a beat.  
Mustang's face twisted in one of anger. He wanted to kill that monster so badly. _That _was the one death he wouldn't mourn over causing.

The creature just kept smiling at him. "What's wrong? Can't face the truth?" He laid down in his cage, both eyes focused on him, awaiting his response.  
Envy was now starting to play games; he needed to leave before Hawkeye had to come in to get him before he physically hurt the thing. "You're delusional if you think we are anything a like." He walked out of the room before he ended up blowing that thing to pieces. He left Envy grinning in his prison, one that he himself built.  
"That thing would get along great with that mad bomber Kimblee. I'll let the Furher handle him; I can't without killing him." He told Riza before she could ask how he was or how it went. Her back stiffened a little at the thought of what the Crimson Lotus Alchemist had told her on the battlefields of Ishval.  
"Furher Armstrong will be determining his fate soon." Riza said in condolence and she heard his heavy footsteps and saw the white knuckles of his clenched fists. Her mouth drew into a thin line. It wasn't like she hadn't heard what Envy had said, but she had more experience in drowning out what she didn't want to hear. She figured the homunculus's words had a different effect on Mustang than they would on her.  
"I know. I don't plan to come back. The next time I see him, he'd better be ready for execution or I'll do it myself." Oh, how Mustang _couldn't_ waitfor that day.


	10. Stuck Waiting

Title: Stuck Waiting

Author: Sofipitch

Series: brotherhood

Word Count: Shorter than imagined? No, 465

Rating: G

Characters: Winry Rockbell

Summary: Waiting for them to come home was brutal.

Warnings: spoilers

Even as she got older, whenever she recalled it, she could never believe she could've had so much patience. Winry Rockbell was well known to not have any patience or tolerance to having to wait, and that's partially why she is known to be such a great engineer. She liked to get things done as fast and as soon as possible, and at the same time she always wanted to present the best quality work possible. She hated waiting, it felt like she had done it her entire life; it got tiring after a while. So once the promised day had ended, it had been brutal for her to sit back and wait for those idiots to come home, rather than to simply run to Central and make sure everything was okay herself.

And honestly, she had tried to do just that the day after the promised day, only to be let down at the news that the trains weren't running. So she waited, believing that once the trains were up and running again she would head straight to Central, first thing. Well, that was until Ed called her just a day before the trains began moving again.

"Just wait there in Risenbool. We'll come to you." Ed didn't provide any more information other than that, and simply hung up on her when he finished giving her that information. She swore she was going beat good manners into him if she had to.

But even though she wanted to do just the opposite, she decided to abide to Ed's wishes. She told herself that Ed had said "we'll", implying that both he and Alphonse were safe, so she let her mind satisfy itself with that little reassurance. But she couldn't help but constantly clean the house, making sure that if they came at any given moment, the house they would be coming home to were clean, or feeling a jolt of excitement stop her heart for the slightest second as she heard the distant whistle of a train making its way down the tracks towards the small town's station.

At least she knew they were coming, she would remind herself over and over again. He called, they were okay.

Some little girls from town had asked her to help them with a charity drive they were going to hold at their school to raise money for classroom supplies. The girls asked her to make some pies, apple pie was included in the list of pies they had asked her to make for the fundraiser. Incidentally, the same day she decided to cook up her pies, was the same day the boys finally returned home to her.

Winry didn't mind having to cook a second apple pie, even though they ended up eating that one too.


	11. Considerate

Title: Considerate

Author: Sofipitch

Series: Brotherhood

Word Count: 335

Rating: PG

Characters: Edward/Winry

Summary: He thought it would be considerate not to wake her up.

Warnings: none

A/N: This takes place during the two year Risenbool arc at the end of the series, in case anyone's wondering.

He had woken up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but had gotten distracted when he saw that the night to the basement was still on. He had gone down there prepared to lecture her about the wonders sleeping could do to the human body, but had kept quiet when he discovered that her body had already beat him to the chase. She lay sleeping, her arms were crossed pillowing her head as she rested it on her workbench. An unfinished automail piece right next to her was testimony of how tired she must've been.

He thought about waking her up and telling her to go to bed, but looking at the clock she kept at the opposite end of the room, he figured disrupting someone at such hours would only be labeled as cruelty. He was about to turn off the oil lamp that rested beside her and go back to his bed when her saw her arms were lined with goose flesh. When he looked at his own arms, he only saw the same and realized the temperature of the dark underground room. He ran upstairs and fetched a blanket and draped it over her before finally going back to bed.

The next morning, when she asked who had been the one to give her the blanket, he had flushed and bashfully responded that it was him. She then proceeded to tell him that next time he should feel free to wake her up. She whined about her back hurting.

Ed decided that that was the last time he tried being "considerate" towards her and her sleeping habits. She pulled all-nighters all the time already, why should he care if she was lacking proper sleep? Of course when they got older he continued to keep her up all night, but that was for another reason entirely. At the moment tapping her shoulder and pointing towards the stairs would have to do as a way to wake her up.


	12. Expendable

Title: Expendable

Author: Sofipitch

Series: brotherhood/manga

Word Count: 693

Rating: G-PG

Characters: Kimblee

Summary: You know it's hypocritical.

Warnings: hinting towards a spoiler

It was so much easier to say the truth than it was to begin spewing out lies. The problem with you telling the truth is that there aren't many people who are jumping to be able to listen. No, sadly most people curled their lips in disgust and covered their ears. Some have grabbed you by the collar and threatened _you_ to _shut up_. And some, who can behave themselves, walk away. But no matter what their reaction was, they all have the same look in their eye, the dilated pupil full of shock and sometimes—although most don't like admit it—fear. It all depended on the person and how civilized they are.

Lying just isn't as much _fun_. It's not hard, no, you've been lying ever since your mother first asked you why you wanted to study alchemy. (You had probably lied many times before that, but this lie was forever engraved in your memory for it was the first 'important' lie.) With lying you don't get the same reaction as with telling to truth, but you know it is more likely for that person, whomever you are talking to, to trust you.

Sometimes lying is interesting, if you are saying the right thing, you still can get interesting reactions. Some begin to cry and thank you if you mention a dead relative of theirs—ironically usually someone who fell at your hands—and for telling them you are sorry for their loss. Though some remain as stone-faced as ever to such mentioning, which you came to learn over the years that that's just some people's way of mourning. Then of course there are times within the military in which have to remind the ones you are dealing with who you are and how much authority the Furher himself has given you over them. The look of shock and bitter annoyance has never failed to amuse you.

Although if there's anything that never fails to annoy you, it's being lied to yourself. You know it's hypocritical, but you can't help but thinking that the lies you've told are petty compared to those the homunculi have told you. They allow you liberty to do what you wish with your alchemy, and then when you do, you are thrown in prison. You know they did that for show, to prove to others they knew you were a 'dangerous monster' and they weren't going to just let you live and flounce about, but it's hard not to find it angering on your behalf. Then after a few long years, they let you out and give you the privilege of receiving a more challenging and more important task from them. You don't delusion yourself into thinking you are important to them, you understand your place to them now. You're expendable to them; just another pawn of theirs. You no longer think you are important to them and that they won't punish you harshly if you do something brash as you had been believing during the war in Ishval.

But they also don't seem to understand where they stand in your mind. You understand that your alliance with them is also expendable. If something that they promised to you is taken away, fine. You hold no specific attachment to them nor do you really believe they will in the end up hold their promise of granting you immortality. You don't believe in anything they say to you, but what they have to offer you is good so you keep your mouth closed and carry on doing as they tell you till they finally do _try_ to get rid of you. But you know you will be the one to outsmart them and you will come out victorious. It's a game of double trickery. Both parties are lying to one another, pretending to be allies, yet wonder when it will be a good time to knock the other out of the race.

Your mother raised you hoping that you'd lead an honest lifestyle. You're honest with yourself, which is more than some other people can say. You think that that must count somewhere in the long run.


	13. Say Yes

Title: Say Yes

Author: Sofipitch

Series: Brotherhood

Word Count: 497

Rating: G

Characters: Trisha Elric, Van Hoenhiem

Summary: She was a simple girl.

Warning: none

A/N: This tied for first place at fma_fic_contest on lj.

Trisha Elric had grown up in Risenbool, and so had both her parents, as well as their grandparents. It was a small, slow town with late technological advances and greenery for as far as the eye could see. She herself loved Risenbool and rarely ever left the town. Busy cities with big, fancy, new cars gleaming in the sunlight couldn't compare with the glisten of the dew that seemed to cover everything and anything in the early mornings of spring, summer, and the beginnings of fall. With a girl like her, who preferred the relaxed backcountry life, it was hard to believe she could fall in love with someone as innovative and interesting as Van.

But he wasn't as modern and contemporary as many would have thought. He was a gentleman, and he seemed to enjoy the slow ways of Risenbool as much as she did. And as old-fashioned as he was, he still managed to fumble and trip over himself whenever he was around her. It was adorable.

There was only one curiosity that came with Van Hoenhiem; she had known him since she was a little girl. He hadn't always been there, but she'd see him out in town or sometimes even at festivals. And in all of her memories of him, he always looked the same. In all her memories of him, he still had the same wrinkles next to his eyes. He never changed; never got older.

She decided it was just a trick of the mind, maybe she couldn't remember him well enough so her mind replaced the blank space with what she could currently remember. His current appearance. It had to be so.

There had been a dance at the barn closest to Miss Stubblefield's sunflower grove. They had both met there and after Pinako Rockbell, a friend of his, pushed him around a few times, he asked her to dance. She didn't say anything, but he stepped on her foot twice.

After that they began meeting up for what she could supposed were dates. They could talk for hours on end. He'd been everywhere in the world. He promised her that one day he would take her to see the world too. He enchanted her.

It'd been an entire six months of meeting each other when she moved to kiss him. Van stopped her before she could.

"Trisha, if we are to continue any farther, there is something you must know about me."

Trisha had never been very good when it came to science. And although she knew next to nothing when it came to alchemy, she was pretty sure everything Van told her that day was anything out of the extraordinary.

But even so, when he asked if she could accept him despite his past and body, she didn't hesitate to say yes.

Trisha was a simple girl, and her answer had been a very simple one to make. She decided she loved him, so she would say yes.


	14. Waves

Title: Waves

Author: Sofipitch

Series: Brotherhood/Manga

Word Count: 331

Rating: PG

Characters: Havoc

Summary: It's scary to die alone.

Warnings: just spoilers really

A/N: This piece won second place at fma_fic_contest on lj.

Like ripples on water, the transmutation expanded out from Central and grew larger as it rushed to cover Amestris up to its borders. You could see the electrical red light of the array as it heads your way. The light breeze that had been blowing across the countryside had sped up into a frightful wind and the ground below you held a slight tremor. Your wheelchair rocked and appliances around you vibrated in place.

You release a puff of smoke from your lungs and twirl the cigarette nestled in between your fingers. It's frightening to know that the end is approaching but even more so that you are facing it alone. Those who had been fighting in Central were all probably dead by now.

"Damnit, we failed," was all you could think to say, for when you've put all your faith into one plan, one project, or one objective, and it finds itself to be incomplete, is there anything else you could ever say than to express understanding that you have failed? You couldn't think of anything else, for you had truly believed that they would succeed and beat the monsters that had rendered you useless.

As the red light envelops you, you feel yourself look around, scan the room, for someone or something, some type of companion that could share and witness your demise. You existed, and although you weren't able to do much, you fought in this rebellion, you fought to stay alive, but now you would die, and no one would ever know who you were.

You believed that you were born to fight in this rebellion, it is of course your greatest contribution to humanity, but it was so sad to think that all that would now just die in vain. No one would know who Jean Havoc was or how much effort you put into trying to help people. And how many plans you had made to continue doing so.

_We just couldn't have lost, could—_


	15. Work Ethic

Title: Work Ethic

Author: Sofipitch

Series: either

Word Count: 250

Rating: G

Summary: The new employee doesn't work and its driving Jill mad.

Warnings: Nah.

"I swear, this new employee is driving me up the wall. Her work ethic is terrible!" Jill ran her hand through her hair in exasperation. Jill liked complaining to Polly. They weren't quite friends, but they were the only people in the building they could talk to on their shift.

"She'll get better; don't worry too much," Polly said, handing Jill some books to organize. "You've got to give her a chance."

"She's been here a week. She's done the minimum amount of work possible!"

"You're fussing too much." Polly pushed her glasses up her nose.

"Ugh." Jill frowned, lower lip sticking out slightly. Jill was but she really didn't have any charm. Or patience. "She doesn't speak to us. It's as if she thinks she's better than us."

"You're being judgmental." Polly wandered off to begin shelving books. Jill followed, obviously not done whining.

"She doesn't listen to anything I say!"

"Maybe if you told her _nicely_…"

"She doesn't present herself for work. No makeup, she doesn't do her hair. It's as if she doesn't want to have to interact with other people!"

Polly could only shake her head when they found the girl, sitting on the ground against a shelf, scanning the pages of a book and turning them at an alarming speed. It was hard to believe she was reading.

The girl didn't even seem to notice them till Jill barked, "Get back to work Sheska!"

Poor Sheska, Polly thought. She just wasn't cut out for work.


	16. Everlong

Title: Everlong

Author: Sofipitch

Series: I think either…

Word Count: 476

Rating: G

Characters: Trisha, and Hoenhiem, Pinako (kinda)

Summary: She trusted him, waited, then fell ill.

Warnings: none

_Hello. I've waited here for you… Everlong._

_ -Foo Fighters_

There wasn't much decision making done. There couldn't be. There was none to make. Trisha didn't know what had happened. Her husband was gone; that's all she knew. She had to trust him when it came to whatever he was working to do. Something to do with alchemy was the obvious, but the rest of what he was doing was unknown to her. When she asked him once he replied that he didn't want her to know anything to break any connections between her and the horrible things to come. "Ignorance is sometimes a virtue in the right moments," he told her. And she trusted him with that, with everything, her future, her family, and her heart.

When he left she didn't ask questions. She trusted him that it wasn't for the wrong reasons, but for good ones. When Trisha had tried to explain to Mrs. Pickett, that she simply trusted her husband, she knew she was alone on the matter. But Van had never done her any serious wrong, and she hoped that it would stay that way. She _believed_ that it would stay that way.

One day, while she was outside watching the children play in the snow, she began to cough. It was just a light little cough that would spontaneously erupt during the day, dust or no dust, cooking spices or no spices. And you could say that the cough never got better for Trisha. It just continued. She told Pinako the first time and received medication from a friend of Pinako's who was a doctor in the next town over. The medicine helped, but it didn't fix the cough. But Trisha honestly didn't think anything of it. So she didn't do anything. If she and Pinako were talking and she did begin to cough, she would just wave her hand at her suspicious look and claim that it was the pollen that came with spring every year. It was just allergies. Completely natural.

She just told Edward and Alphonse that everything was okay, she was _fine_, and they believed her. Mommy is always right. Mommy is strong.

Trisha had been getting along fine without Van. She missed him, and she wished he could be around for the kids, but him not being here wasn't a problem till she was bedridden. And it wasn't long after that that her only prayers to god were those of her asking for him to come back to take care of the children. They needed a parent to look after them, to love them, to be there for them.

She understood she was not fine. She never really had been, with anything. She had just been trying go move with the flow of events. And now she needed him, but she didn't even know where he was.


End file.
